


Home. Safe and Sound

by Hopefulbadger



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex is a woman confident in herself, Alex is just a normal cop, Badass Alex Danvers, But Alex is an adorable cop who can't let a scared girl go home alone when she could help, F/F, G!P, Girl Penis, OC Josie, Smut yet to come, Trans Alex, Trans Alex Danvers, also, and she will own being trans like a bamf, because she IS, going home late at night, probably around ch4? Idk yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:48:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopefulbadger/pseuds/Hopefulbadger
Summary: A commissioned work by BraveVesperia01 about her OC Josie.Josie is walking home late one night from her waitressing job when her usual route home runs her into a shoot out where local policewoman Alex Danvers is working to de-escalate the situation. But what happens after Alex calms Josie down and apprehends the perpetrator? She walks Josie home! Of course!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BraveVesperia01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BraveVesperia01/gifts).

Home. Safe and Sound.

Chapter 1

"Josie?" The manager called as he flipped the lock of the restaurant's front doors. "You mind getting the trash tonight?"

"Huh?" Josie's head popped up from the table she had been wiping down. She hesitantly pulled the hair that had fallen loose from a barrette behind her ear as she searched for who had called her name. "What's up?" She had been just a mite too caught up in her own head to catch what he had requested. After a long and busy day, Josie had no interest in dawdling with clean up or delaying the opportunity to get home, take a long relaxing bath, and curl into her warm bed for the night. Her regular day had quickly become a double when her manager had called her that morning with news that two of her coworkers had called out sick.

"You mind taking out the trash tonight?" He requested again like he didn't have her do it every other night.

"Uugh-" Josie's eyes jumped anxiously to her watch. "I, I really wanna get going before midnight.

"It'll just take a minute." He was lying and even he knew it. They had been working the whole place on their own for the last four hours, and even before that the only help they had was the part-time cook. Trash had been piling up all day and no one had taken it out. It would be a good five trips at least, and then they would still have to finish everything else up.

"You know I have to walk home through-" Josie tried to explain again, but she seemed to get cut off for the umpteenth time. Tired of getting lingering stares that made her want to ditch the heels and start sprinting home before something bad happened as she crossed the bad part of town, she sighed and shut up rather than letting the supervisor talk over her.

"I know. We'll have you out of here in no time! Just grab the trash, fix up the dishes, and then clean up the last of the tables and you'll be good to go as soon as I finish up the register and the safe."

Another lie, but there was not much that could be done for it. Josie yielded with a simple shrug and an "Oh, ok then. I, I just need to get going soon, alright? It's already half-past eleven." But she knew getting out before twelve-thirty was no more than a pipe dream anymore.

Surely enough, twelve forty-five rolled around and Josie was still waiting on the manager to finish up the counts on the till and deposit everything into the safe for, well, safekeeping. "Wow, Josie, I'm just so sorry." He finally emerged.

"Oh? You're done?" She perked like she hadn't been waiting idly with little to nothing left to clean or straighten up.

"Yup, that's it. Sorry, we ran late tho." He seemed somewhat disingenuous. "I lost count a couple of times and then we were short a fifty, so I had to redo the count." That, however, was much more believable for Josie.

"Oh, well, that's a shame. Glad you got it all together in the end tho." She put on a false smile and pulled at the hem of her dress uncomfortably. It was a hopeless signal to a blind man that she wished to get going already.

"Yup." He made a show of glancing at his watch like he had planned it. "Aww, geez! Almost one already?"

"Yeah, it's crazy. And I was hoping to get home before midnight. I, I know it is arbitrary, but I just feel safer walking home before twelve." She passively and politely attempted to reassert her limits and needs.

"Well, it can't really be helped when it is just the two of us closing up." He huffed and adjusted his pants on his hips like he was working his way up to saying something. "And there is something to that after all! I happen to know that the cops tend to vacate that area of town around midnight."

"Oh really, that's scary." Josie forced a fake giggle, knowing that he was wrong, but still feeling a little more creeped out about the walk.

"Well, you know, I just live across the way really, you could always come back to my place with me if you are too afraid to make the walk home."

Josie was mortified! Not only did he not, in fact, live just across the way! He drove a car to work and he also often happened to be late with some level of regularity! Even if he did live close! He had been the one to keep her beyond the time she had said she couldn't stay past. She was fuming and ready to snap before she calmed herself with a few ragged breaths. "Oh, no, I really think it is just best that I start heading home right now. Plus, I'm scheduled for tomorrow, so I have to do laundry and like take a shower and stuff to be presentable tomorrow."

"Oh, well, you could do all that stuff at my place." He leaned in, attempting to do his best impression of swave or smooth.

Josie's legs quickly backed her away, evading the man and his advances. "No, no, I think I should really just be going home tonight." Josie tried again politely, and thankfully he actually got the message.

"Ok, sorry about that. Just thought it would be a safer alternative for you." He tried to eschew his own inappropriate advances away.

"Yeah." She nodded back and averted her eyes awkwardly.

"Oh! Let me get the front door for you!" He waved his hand in the air with the memory of locking it over an hour prior flooded back to him.

"You, you go ahead and take the front door, I'll just slip out the back. It locks on its own, so you don't have to worry about it. It's closer to my apartment anyways." Josie would have crawled through the bathroom window to evade having to stay near him one more second, but thankfully the back door made for just as good an excuse and a much better exit.

"Yes, yes, of course. Have a wonderful night then I guess." The manager backed away awkwardly.

"Yeah, goodnight." Josie waved back as she backed away. Quickly, she grabbed her purse and rushed off and away. Chunky heels clacked decisively on the kitchen and back room's tile floors as she rushed out, near running away simply wanting distance from the rather inappropriate supervisor. Dashing down the street, hopelessly praying that there was a bus running over an hour late, Josie crossed her fingers only to be let down. Of course, the bus hadn't been delayed that long! "Great, a half-hour walk through the bad part of town, in heels, after fourteen hours on my feet. Delightful." She sighed, pulling her purse up and fishing around in it for both her keys and pepper spray. It was the best defense she had if something went wrong, and she didn't trust herself with either of them individually but combined, they made for at least some vague semblance of comfort and reassurance.

Josie's grip tightened around both her improvised self-defense measures as she heard an errant police siren wailing off in the distance. Delightful, it was even somewhere off in the direction she was headed! "That's it! I'm putting my foot down! I am not staying this late anymore! Nope! No more!" Josie attempted to hype herself up with no actual hope of getting much of any progress if she even could manage to follow through on talking to the manager or owner.

Hazel eyes darted around each passerby or person placed stationary, doing whatever it is someone does in the city nearing one in the morning. She did her best attempt to evaluate each and every one of them, offering little more than a polite wave as she anxiously hoped that she could once more get by without running into any trouble. Regretfully, she turned the corner, attempting to avoid a man drunkenly stumbling his way out of a bar. It would add another three minutes to the walk, but it would also ensure she didn't have to worry about him quite as much. Distractedly, she turned her head back. Breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of no one following her, Josie whipped out her phone. It was only another ten minutes till she was home, but maybe some tunes would assist in soothing her nerves? Slipping in aging earbuds, Josie found something to throw on before slipping her phone back into her purse. A soft orchestral build began the song slowly. She hummed along, closing her eyes and allowing her legs to carry her away as she zoned out to the music.

The tension finally began to leave her shoulders as her music built to a crescendo. Maybe she should take this route home from now on? It would take an additional ten or twenty minutes total, but at least she would evade the bars and avoid drunkards getting pushed out after last call. It might be a good idea, at least for the next time that she was inevitably forced to stay late. Yes, this would be the route home when it was late from now on. That would certainly help! "Yeah that's i-" Josie's mumbling to herself was abruptly cut short at a firm hand yanking her back by her shoulder. She nearly hit the ground; for a moment there, she actually thought she had. But then she felt a warmth at her back as opposed to the cold hard ground she had expected. It was unexpected, but it was nice.

Alex yelled, but Josie heard nothing beyond the blaring climax of her music. She just saw the short-haired woman's mouth moving as she felt a blush coming to her face. Why had this woman stopped her, nearly thrown her to the ground, and then caught her? Suddenly any fantasies of the dark and attractive woman wearing a stern face were ripped out before they could really form with a rough tug at her earbuds. "Ouch-" She went to speak but was talked over.

"Idiot! What do you think you are doing!? Walking right into a crime scene with an active shooter! I yelled at you to stop!"

"Huh?" Josie was caught, still staring at Alex's eyes and the way that even from upside-down her asymmetrical haircut framed her face. She didn't notice or process the frustrated words correctly until well after Alex had rather roughly dropped her down onto the ground.

"Stay away from my crime scene before you get yourself killed!"

Josie was left dumbfounded, watching on as the determined officer walked off with such determination and self-assurance that she could feel her mouth go dry and all the air rush out of her chest. Then there was the feeling of the cold hard ground rushing back in on her. Suddenly police lights and sirens she hadn't noticed moments earlier seemed entirely unignorable. Sirens blared in her ears louder than the music had, lights spun, disorienting her and inducing a somewhat debilitating sense of vertigo. Josie's head spun as she fought to get back to her feet, or at least sit up. Gravity, however, didn't like those plans. In tandem with a sense of direction certain that true north was actively spinning around her in all different directions. "I-" She had just managed to begin finding her balance when Alex started yelling again.

"Get! Get going, now get!" Alex huffed, waving her handoff in the opposite direction. She knew she was being harsh to the innocent woman. But sometimes a little roughness was necessary for a civilian to be safe.

"S- sorry!" Josie stammered in the face of the officer's demanding harsh tone.

"Just stay out of the way, we don't want you getting hurt Ma'am." Alex gestured like she was tipping a hat she wasn't even wearing off to the innocent woman.

"Yeah, I! Uugh, thanks, Officer." Josie suddenly redirected her attention to her appearance after feeling Alex's unyielding eyes on her. Quickly, the waitress rushed to straighten the dress which had, in all the commotion, ruffled a bit higher than she would usually have allowed. Once more, she neatly tucked a stray couple locks of auburn hair back behind her ear. She then struggled to rise back to her feet in as ladylike a manner as possible. The task, however, quickly proved itself near impossible as her balance failed her once more. She nearly toppled back over into a wall. Maybe allowing her manager to talk her into skipping lunch to take care of the dinner rush was a bad idea after all? Narrowly, she was able to pivot and avoid clonking her head hard on the brick wall she had been headed for, but by the time she came to a halt that no longer seemed to matter.

"He's coming out!" One of the officers shouted.

Josie could hear the rest of them unclip their gun and pull it out in unison.

"Get down, get down! He has a gun!" Josie could easily recognize that voice as belonging to the assertive officer whose arms she had literally fallen into. Consciously or not, she drifted closer towards the officer and her comforting presence.

"Gun!" The other officer screamed in surprise and distress.

"No! Adam!" Alex snapped, already knowing how the new recruit might respond.

His gunshots rang out first and loud. For the first time, Josie had a good handle on which direction was down, but she was near-certain her eardrums had been blown. She had never heard anything like that, just the loud bang and then the subtle ringing in her ears. Momentarily she was afraid she had gone completely deaf; a thought quickly corrected by the noise of the criminal shooting back at the officers. Josie's hands shook violently and tears seemed to spontaneously be streaming down her face. She was terrified. Was this really how she would die? All because she was willing to stay too late at work? After having made the same trek home dozens upon dozens of times before? Josie screamed when Alex touched her again, confident that it was the grim reaper, not the kind officer.

"It's ok. I got you, I got you." Alex firmly assured, pulling Josie softly but firmly into the cover of the police car's open door. It made for a makeshift barricade and shielded them enough from both the shooter and the rapid-fire of his gun.

"He's shooting at us! We're going to die! We're going to die!" Josie hyperventilated, filled with terror.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's all going to be ok." The officer showed a soft-hearted kindness Josie hadn't expected to see in her after the more gruff displays of character she had seen prior.

"I-" Alex's hand was warm on Josie's arm, gently rubbing up and down her exposed flesh.

"It's going to be ok… Josie?" Alex checked the waitress's name tag.

"Y- yeah." Josie struggled to reply, even her jaw still trembling at the sound of the shooter and Alex's partner still firing back at each other. "M- my name's Josie." She swallowed down abject terror as best she could.

"Good. It's good to meet you Josie. I'm sorry for grabbing you earlier, and just now, but I was trying to get you out of this." Alex's apology seemed beyond sincere even if Josie was certain the officer thought her to be no more than a nuisance.

"I- i- i- it's o- o- ok!" Josie stammered, shaking more.

"Shh, You are safe now." Alex rose her hand that wasn't actively calming Josie to the interior of the police car door they were hiding behind. "Bulletproof." She knocked two knuckles against the door. It was a lie, and she knew it, but it would help Josie. "We're perfectly safe." Alex pulled her hand down and used it to gingerly wipe the tears off of the young waitress's face. "No danger, it's all going to be ok."

Josie was still quivering but Alex's words and calming touch had done a lot to help calm her. The waitress was no longer shaking and she was actually almost able to control her breathing. "T- thank you." She shuttered, still scared, but feeling Alex's confidence reassuring.

"Here." Alex looked over Josie. Pulling a jacket out of the cruiser, Alex spoke up again, drawing forth all of the calming softness she could. "This is my jacket. It's cold out here, put it on and it should help calm you down a little." The officer's hand slipped up Josie's arm to her shoulder and then to her cheek so she could wipe away the new tears that had formed. "It's going to be ok. Just keep your head down and slip into the cruiser. When everything is safe, I'll come back to get you out. Sound good?"

Josie clung to the jacket, pulling it closer to her body without moving it from where Alex had draped it over her. It wasn't the police issue nylon one might expect, it must have been the officer's personal jacket. The rich leather was worn just to the point of being soft without having cracked at all. It's understated scent of rich leather and a lingering earthy floral perfume that Josie imagined the officer had worn on a date sometime in recent weeks or months. Eventually, she realized Alex actually wanted a response from the way the officer started her through her in just the way that made Josie think she might melt. "Oh! Yeah, yeah. I! I can get into the car." Josie sat up just enough to slip into the space where one's feet might normally rest in the cruiser. Realizing by the blush on the officer's face and the way Alex looked away that she had accidentally flashed the officer her panties in an effort to slip inside the car without exposing herself to the shooter. Josie yelped, terribly embarrassed and still striving to calm herself from the ongoing firefight. She rushed to push her dress back down and cover what was left of her legs with the coat.

Alex's eyes darted back to the innocent and embarrassed young woman once more, just to shoot her an encouraging wink. It was just enough to make Josie forget herself being a clutz and almost flashing the kind officer, and when combined with the sound of gunfire increasing as soon as Alex stepped away from the protection of the car's door, Josie forgot about it entirely.

The shots ended quickly after Alex rejoined the fray. All Josie knew was that a man far away hollered out some series of curse words. Initially, she wasn't sure if it had come from Alex's partner or the perpetrator, but the trigger happy police man's cheers quickly assuaged those fears. Josie could hear Alex yelling at the man to give himself up, that she and her partner would take him in and ensure he got medical treatment for the non-fatal wound. Josie was immeasurably relieved the firefight was over, but wrapping it up seemed to take centuries. Even in her dazed state where nothing seemed to be more than a rough blur in the rotating blue and red haze of lights. Worn leather with a storied character was her only homing beacon, keeping her grounded in only the loosest interpretation of the word. White knuckles clutched to the leather for dear life as she overheard the two applying the best in the field first aid they could.

Josie was still shaking in the nook of the car she had made her shire when Alex returned. The officer sighed worriedly for only a moment before she reached out with a calming hand once more. "All over. We got him. You are free to go home Josie.

The waitress's eyes drifted up, still stunned and tear-filled as she gawked at the officer.

"I'm right here. No more danger. He's in cuffs and my partner called in backup and an ambulance."

Josie's kind eyes flickered with fear for even the criminal who had been shooting in her direction.

"He's perfectly fine. He won't be winning any races any time soon, but he will be just fine. Night in the hospital to get stitched up, then off to the clink." Alex outstretched her hands. One went to wipe away the new tears and the other was simply offered as a hand up.

"T- thank you." Josie's throat and jaw had trouble maneuvering around encumbered words.

"All part of the job Ma'am." Alex smiled politely when the waitress finally took her hand and hesitantly emerged from the cruiser. "But what had you out so late at night? This really isn't the best part of town."

"B- busses don't run this late. Had to- I! I just got off work." Josie stammered, finding her footing wobbly under her.

"Geez, they had you working this late?" Alex looked around, locating her partner and the back up they had called in when they realized the perp had a gun.

"Yeah." Josie's gaze drifted down to her shoes embarrassed for allowing herself to be put in this position.

"Welp, I-" Alex went to speak but was cut off spontaneously. Josie had wrapped her arms around the officer so suddenly.

"Thank you." Josie clung tighter to Alex than she had been to the jacket before. "I, I was really scared. And… thank you. You helped so much."

Alex actually blushed. It surprised her, but she did. "Course, Josie." Alex found herself patting Josie on the back, soothing the woman as best she could. "It's all going to be ok. You are safe now."

"Thank you." Josie found all the world's comfort in Alex's arms, with her head nestled right there against Alex's head and shoulders. Finally, with Alex's warmth against her in the cold night, Josie felt safe again.

"It's nothing. Nothing at all." Alex went to pull away but didn't when she felt Josie still clinging back to her.

"It's not nothing. I, I just really appreciate it. Sorry about the random hug. I, just was scared and… sorry." Josie pulled back finally. She looked down and away, the awkward of her actions seeping in. "Uugh, here's your jacket." She pushed it out, offering it up as she looked away.

"Thanks." Alex looked around, checking to see that the backup was taking over and seemed to be doing well about it. "Look uugh-"

"I'll get out of your hair! I'm sure you have plenty of paperwork and valiant policing to do. I can't be the only girl you need to save today." Josie meant to get going, to start walking home, but her feet were not moving.

"No, no you aren't." Alex sighed. "But that doesn't mean that I am done just yet. Now get back here. It's cold out here. Start wearing a jacket, ok?!" Alex's rushed words came out more like an order than she had intended, but the gesture of holding the jacket back out seemed to do enough to soothe Josie despite her gruffer tone.

"I!"

"Take it, It's cold out here. You are shaking." Alex pointed towards Josie's trembling fingers and near chittering jaw.

"What! No, that's such a nice jacket. I'm not taking it!" Josie shook her head vehemently.

"I'm not offering for you to keep it." Alex pulled at Josie's hand slipping the jacket on for her. "I'll walk you home."

"What? D- don't you have a crime scene to work on?"

"Nah, back up just arrived. They can handle it." Alex waived off in their direction before turning back to her partner and yelling to him. "Aye! Adam! This one's still a little scared, so I'm gonna walk her home. K?"

"Yeah, we got it from here." Adam hollered back.

"See, I'm all good. So, get the rest of that jacket on, and I'll walk you through the rest of the way home." Alex smiled.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." Alex's confidence was beyond charming or just so simply attractive. Certain of herself in a way that made saying no not only unappealing but feel near impossible to the tired waitress who wished for nothing more than to have the strong officer walk her home. It would be such a delightful relief to no longer worry about each passerby and what they might try.

"That, that sounds like it would be really nice." Josie blushed into the officer's coat, it's comfort draped around only her one shoulder but still feeling perfect.

"Then it's decided. I'll walk you home." Alex moved in close again. Close enough to bring the proximity back to the forefront of Josie's mind. The officer pulled at the free arm of the jacket, opening it up and coaxing it on.

"I, I, thank you." Josie slipped on the second arm.

Alex was quick to zip the jacket up to just about even with Josie's breasts. Certainly, the reason behind stopping just there was because it would be enough to ensure the cute young woman would get the warmth she needed. Absolutely not because Alex liked the modest amount of cleavage the waitress uniform showed or the way the jacket helped to accentuate it at that height. No! It was most certainly for a more moral reason than that!

"This, it's really sweet of you." Josie blushed and looked down, surprised to see that Alex hadn't zipped it all the way up. But she wasn't disappointed. She actually smiled a little prideful of how it made her chest look at that height. Not that she felt like there was all that much to be prideful about after a double's worth of grime and the shambles she assumed her makeup must have been in after that and all her crying.

"Happy to help. Serve and protect n' all." Alex smiled and offered an arm politely.

Josie's eyes jumped in between the arm and the officer's face. It looked like Alex was offering to walk her home with their arms interlocked. It only took Josie another moment to realize it looked like that because the officer, in fact, was offering to walk her home arm in arm.

"You are so sweet." Josie strived to believe she hadn't taken on the complexion of a tomato, but such frivolous hopes were long gone in the face of the beautiful officer her arm seemed to be interlocking with on its own.

"There we go. Now, let's get you home all safe and sound."

End of Chapter 1

Huge thanks to BraveVesperia01! They have been so kind as to commission this fic. It means alot to me, writing is the thing I love most in the world and it is an amazing feeling to get to do it in a professional sense! The original character of Josie was created by them, and they gave me the idea for this story! So if you enjoyed, definitely thank them for reaching out to me on my tumbler and commissioning me to get this story made.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Josie couldn't help but think about just how warm, Alex's arm was. The waitress quickly grew weary on the last leg of the trip home. She found herself leaning into Alex more and more with each step. Walking, still with their arms looped inside the other. Josie's head just seemed to keep slumping closer to Alex. Heavier each moment. Maybe Pulling doubles on a lackluster amount of sleep was a bad idea?

"You ok over there?" Alex rose her shoulder ever so slightly, just to meet Josie's head.

"Hmm?" Josie's eyes lifted from their drooped state.

"You ok over there?" Alex repeated for Josie softly.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah." Josie forced her head back upright.

"It's ok. You can rest your head on my shoulder if you want." Alex gave a soft shrug, almost more of a welcome than anything.

"You sure? As it is, I'm already practically hanging off of you." Josie looked down to their locked arms guiltful.

"You are perfectly fine." Alex turned to Josie with a bright smile.

The waitress melted into Alex. Slumping against her, she willingly allowed her head to rest upon Alex's warm shoulder. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Alex redirected her eyes forward instead of allowing her gaze to linger, looking down at the mildly shorter woman. It was a good thing she forced herself to look forward, otherwise, her gaze might have slipped somewhere a little less innocent than just Josie's kind eyes.

"You do this for all the girls whose lives you save? Let them wear your fancy jacket and walk them home?"

"You think cops just end up in shoot outs every day?"

"I!" Josie's head snapped back straight up.

"Hey, you're fine. I'm just teasing." Alex pulled back on Josie's arm playfully.

"If I'm honest, I don't know much about a cop's daily life." Josie reflected, allowing Alex to coax her back down to rest her head on the officer's shoulder.

"I've got time. I'm happy to share whatever stories you'd like."

"How many women have you done this for?" Josie prodded, reminding herself that it was an aimless search and that the officer was surely doing this out of kindness or civic duty. Certainly not because the officer was gay too. No possibility of that? Right? No! Assuredly not, and it was best she not get her hopes up. At least that is what ruminated on loop in Josie's mind.

"Me? Walking scared girls home? Mhmm, maybe once every other month or so?" Alex pondered.

"Oh? That often?" Suddenly Josie felt so much less special. Until she had heard that, she felt like the first woman Alex had gone through all the trouble to walk home so chivalrously like this.

"Yeah. Maybe a little less?"

"You do this almost once every two months?" Josie's ego was still recovering as she fished for any excuse to feel special again.

"Nope. I've never done this before." Alex was so matter of fact about her counter-intuitive response that it caused pause in Josie.

"I, I don't understand?" She looked up to the officer while keeping her cheek planted on Alex's shoulder.

"I take my time to make sure people get home safe once every other month or so. Giving a cute girl my coat and walking her home arm in arm? Now that? That's a treat. Not just one that comes along once every other month." Alex made a point of straightening her back and darting her eyes away. It was a conflicted culmination of emotions that pushed her gaze away from the sidewalk in front of them or the girl on her arm. There, of course, were the hints of embarrassment. Alex was smooth, but she wasn't so smooth that there wasn't even a hint of embarrassment. Then there was the fear that Josie wouldn't be interested. If she had been honest with herself, it was more of a presumption than a fear. But she had brought herself to say it anyways. As soon as the words slipped from her lips, she loosened her arm. It was a small gesture, but it made her feel a little calmer. At least this way, if the young waitress was irritated or disgusted by the compliment halfway to being a pick-up line, then Josie could pull away.

"I am certainly anything but cute right now." Josie leaned in and looked up to Alex.

Alex was still looking away when she began with her vehement disapproval of Josie's statement. "Now that just simply isn't tr-" Alex broke into laughter when she was finally looking back at Josie.

The waitress was making the most ridiculous face she could manage. Crossed eyes, duck face, and her tongue sticking out playfully. All accentuated by the mess her tears had made of her makeup, the passing streetlights casting an odd shadow on her face, and the way she clung to Alex's arm like she was a horror movie monster.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Alex tried to subdue her snickers as a wide smile grew on her face.

"Told you." Josie gave a delighted and victorious huff before relaxing her face back to normal and leaning back into Alex.

"Wait! What?" Alex forced a more serious face, but the corners of her lips were still curled in the slightest of smiles.

"You laughed." Josie settled in on her victory.

"So?" Alex contested.

"If my face makes you laugh, I am certainly not all that pretty."

"I said cute, not pretty." Alex allowed the natural smile to slip back onto her face. "But the point is mute because you are both." Alex settled. "Making a funny face doesn't change that in the slightest."

"It doesn't huh?" Josie settled. Her heart glowed, not only feeling special once more but also rather pampered. "Well, someone isn't hard to look at herself. Especially in that uniform." The waitress went for broke and simply snuggled up to the officer's arm, awaiting her reaction, reading every twitch amongst their walk. It made for an anxious dance, trying with each moment to figure out if the other was even playing the same sport.

Alex softened. She pulled her arm in closer, relaxing it from it's previously tensed position intended to allow Josie to escape if she had wanted. "Why thank you." She stood a mite taller at the compliment, glowing in the pride it allowed her.

"Oh, we turn here." Josie pointed out without lifting her head.

Alex just hummed along and continued escorting the woman on her arm.

"So wha-" Josie was going to bring up some something or other as an attempt to see if Alex was the rainbow card-carrying member she hoped and suspected the officer might be, but she was interrupted by Alex's phone going off.

"Oh, one moment. Sorry about this." Alex sighed, whipping the phone out of her pocket, picking up the call, and bringing it to her ear all in one fluid motion. "Officer Danvers speaking."

Josie couldn't quite make out what the man on the other side of the line said. All she could really make out was stable, squad car, how long and ride home. Context clues seemed to do a good job of filling out the blanks.

Alex took a deep inhale. "Yeah, that's ok." She paused for some reply Josie missed entirely. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I'll make my way back in a little. Yup, see you tomorrow." Alex hung up and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"Everything ok?" Josie checked, attempting to appear innocent and like she hadn't been straining to eavesdrop on the call.

"Yup. Perfectly fine. Just my partner calling to tell me the shooter will be ok."

"Oh? Do you need to turn back now? I, my apartment is still a block or two away. I don't wanna hold you two up. Especially if it means that guy won't be getting to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Ah no, the ambulance came for him, and my partner was mostly telling me that he was taking the squad car and heading out back to the station."

"Oh no! Is he leaving without you! I've held you up too long! I'm so sorry!" Josie stammered, releasing Alex. Her head spun guiltful. She had been so caught up in the warm officer's kindness that she had delayed her to the point that she would be late getting back to the crime scene!

"Aye! Nothing to be sorry for. I knew this might take a while, and my partner was just giving me the heads up that he was heading out. I am good to take my time. He said he'd clock me out, so I'm done for the night." Alex shrugged and gestured for Josie to return to her side.

"But! But the squad car was your ride home!" Josie stammered, angry with herself that she had inconvenienced the officer who had taken her time to help her out so kindly.

"Uber was invented for a reason." Alex lowered her gaze at Josie.

"That's just not right tho! You were so kind and you helped me out! And now you are gonna have to pay to ride home in a stranger's car? I! I feel guilty! That isn't right to you!"

"I'm perfectly fine. Now come along. I don't want you having to be out in the cold any longer than you have to." Alex waived on. She quickly caught the sight of Josie's still worried face protesting. "Come on. Please." Alex's soft and eager smile won the waitress even if it was a begrudging victory.

"I don't like that you are missing your ride home." Josie pouted but willingly returned to Alex's side.

"I know. And I am sorry about that. But I promise, I will be just fine." Alex assured.

Josie was still somewhat pouting, but she found herself yielding to the comfort of Alex's shoulder once more before they had covered another block. "So, your name? It's Danvers?" Hearing the officer greet the phone call with a name finally alerted Josie to the fact that she hadn't really caught the other's name yet.

"Yes, and my first name is officer." Alex teased.

"Asshole." Josie huffed with a light laugh under her breath.

"It's Alex. Alex Danvers."

"Officer Alex Danvers?" Josie questioned emptily, just saying it to dedicate the name to her memory.

Alex hummed back affirming that Josie had gotten it right.

"Oh, and I'm Josie Maxwell." She offered her name in return with one last snuggle at Alex's arm before releasing and turning to her building. "And, uugh, this is me." She pointed a finger up in the rough direction of her apartment somewhere on the fourth floor.

"Well then, Josie Maxwell. It was really nice getting to meet you. Sorry, it had to be under such stressful conditions like getting shot at." Alex turned to her with a gentle smile to accompany her apology.

"It's ok. I! Well, It's not ok. I was really scared. But, but you made it ok." Josie scurried to clarify what exactly it was that she meant. "And, that really means a lot. So, nothing to be sorry for. Especially cause you helped make sure I didn't have to worry about anything on the rest of the way home. And that is actually a huge relief."

"Glad I could help." Alex stood, staring awkwardly back at Josie, giving just a handful of moments before she forced herself to look away. She quickly forced herself to take out her phone to schedule that ride she would need to get home and leave the waitress be for the night. If Josie didn't want anything more, then Alex wouldn't push.

Josie stood back, dumbfounded. Would the officer really not ask to come up with her? To tag along the trek up the stairs back to her apartment? In the back of her mind, Josie really thought that the whole event of walking her home had half been an excuse just to get upstairs into her apartment and into bed with her. And damnit if Alex had asked, Josie was pretty certain she would have said yes! Not like she had any extensive experience of one night stands, or any at all for that matter. Yet it felt like somehow she had infinitely less so with chivalrous police officers like Alex. But Alex had been so sweet. She had done exactly everything right, and she didn't seem to be straight or uninterested. So why hadn't Alex asked yet? Josie was still striving to decode the solemn officer when she caught sight of a button on her phone labeled 'order ride'. "Wait!" She called out without much of a plan.

"Josie?" Alex perked, turning back to the waitress. "Everything ok?"

"I! Yeah. I, I just…" Josie couldn't come up with any better an excuse fast enough, so she steamed ahead with the first thing that had come to mind. "It's late, and cold out here!"

"Yes, I've been saying that all night." Alex laughed lightly.

"I! What I am trying to say is that! That you should come upstairs with me! I! I can cook you a hot meal! I have some ziti loafing around in my fridge. Just a day old. And it actually is better reheated!" She liked to pretend her words hadn't come off as eager as they sounded.

They didn't come off as eager as they sounded, no, no, much much worse than just how it sounded. But Alex found the eagerness both adorable and exactly in line with everything else that she found so intriguing about the innocent young waitress. "Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent certain!" Josie near yelped back in response.

"Well, I am kinda hungry." Alex admitted.

"Then you have to come up! You've been so kind to me! I! I just want to repay that!" Josie knew it was a poor excuse, but if it works, it works, and if she didn't try she might lose out on the red-headed officer altogether.

"You sure? It's awful late. And in the best way, you seem kinda tired after such a long day, not to mention being shot at." Alex countered. "I don't want you pushing yourself too hard just to try and feed me."

"Pushing? I just have to drop the pan off in the oven and wait twenty minutes for it to warm up." Josie dismissed any effort it might take. "Come on. Let me return the favor of you being there for me all night." She outstretched a hand, beaconing the officer in as best she could with a coy smile.

Alex glanced around, playing like she didn't adore the idea of accompanying the waitress up to her apartment. "Then that sounds really nice." She took Josie's hand, allowing the waitress this time to lead her instead of the other way around.

"Good. Cause I make a mean ziti! You'll love it." Josie brightened significantly. She found new wind in escorting the officer up the stairs and round to her small flat. It wasn't much at all, barely more than a studio apartment, but it was hers. She was excited in an odd on edge way to have Alex come in with her. "Four seventeen. That's me." Josie made a joke of it, displaying her apartment number like it was the prize on a game show.

Alex just giggled politely at the show, unsure what she should do or say.

Josie blushed, feeling like she might have overextended. In an awkward rush, she undid the lock to her apartment and swung the door open, offering for Alex to go in first.

"Thanks." Alex slipped into the apartment with a hesitant nod. Her hands fidgeted awkwardly. What was she to do or say? Sure it was easy to be the confident cop, she did that every day, but once invited into the waitress's home? That seemed much harder to navigate than she had anticipated all of a sudden.

Josie spent an extra moment to close the door behind them before looking around the room and trying to process what to do, what to say, and how to go about it all. She had never done this before, never even came close. Would Alex expect sex?! Would it be ok if they actually just spent some time together over a meal? Why had she done this! She had no plan! No actual way to host a guest correctly. Gay panic set in hard and fast.

"So umm? Your ziti? Is it a special recipe?" Alex fished, doing double duty. Both attempting to assist in easing the awkwardness and to assure Josie that she didn't just come up to the apartment assuming sex would be involved.

"Oh! Yes! My ziti! Uugh! Yes! It is just how my family made it. That's all. So? Not a really special recipe. Just how my mom made it. You know?" She scurried off to click on the oven and pull her pre-prepared dinner out from the fridge.

"Oh! It already looks good." Alex leaned over the sizeable dish of pasta.

"Just you wait, it's even better reheated." Josie grabbed it and threw it in the oven quickly, trying to occupy herself with anything she could. She, however, seemed to run out of things to keep herself occupied with very quickly after that. Taking down some plates and silverware took no time at all, offering Alex a seat, and after that, she had nothing left to do but collapse against the kitchen's island in her stool.

"You… ok over there?" Alex nudged at Josie's shoulder.

"Hmm! Yes! Just a little drained! Uugh, and I feel all gross."

"What's wrong?" Alex outstretched an open upturned hand.

Josie picked up on the somewhat subtle gesture, taking Alex's hand in her's. She looked back up to the officer, brightening slightly at the contact. "What, me being covered in messed up makeup and the results of my tears aren't enough to warrant me feeling gross?"

"It is. It is more than enough, and if that is it, that is valid. Just you said it like there was more than that?" Alex squeezed Josie's hand.

"I…" Josie looked around anxiously. "It's nothing."

"If you are saying it like that, it certainly isn't nothing." Alex challenged with a testing worried glare.

"I, I just need to be better about telling my manager no."

"I think you mentioned something about working late?"

"Yeah. And that is certainly an issue. But it isn't all." Josie deflated slowly.

"Well then, what is it? I'm here if you need someone to talk about whatever it is with? I mean it looks like we got time. What ten minutes for your oven to heat up and another twenty for the ziti to get all warm and the cheese gets delightfully gooey." Alex offered without pushing.

Josie looked back to the timer on the oven. Alex was right, she had time. "Well, first off there is the fact that the restaurant I work at keeps holding me later than I said I could work when I first got there. I'm not against working late. I just…"

"The exact reason you wanted to be able to head home sooner was to avoid things like tonight?" Alex fished.

"Yeah. A little bit."

"That isn't right. Especially when it is a matter of safety because you have to walk home like that."

"Yeah, It doesn't really help that my manager has now taken my worries about getting home safely as an excuse to hit on me."

"Wait what?" Any lightheartedness completely evaporated away from Alex's expression.

"Yes. God, he was such a creep about it too. I swear he held me late just so that I would consider going home with him."

"Your boss!?" Alex burned furious.

"Yup." Josie exhaled tired and disgusted. "I tried to politely turn him down by saying I felt nasty, that I needed to change and take a shower before tomorrow so I could relax. He tried to turn it into an excuse to invite me to shower at his place."

"Uugh." Alex made a face of disgust in empathy.

"God! Does he not realize I am gay!" Josie finally snapped after her long day. "It is just disgusting and infuriating! Not only is it beyond inappropriate, but just thinking of him makes my skin crawl now. He is just so shifty, and I swear he kept me late just because he thought it would give him a better chance to get me to go home with him. God, men can just be disgusting sometimes." Her exhaustion showed. Josie was just tired, tired and done with the aggravations of the night and how it had played out until she had run into Alex.

"Men… men can really suck. I'm sorry that happened. You deserve better." Alex fell quiet. Awkwardly sitting there, unsure what to say or how to say it, she just continued to hold Josie's hand in a soft supportive gesture.

"Thanks. I just feel all nasty after my whole day."

"Maybe take a shower? No creeping! I'll stay right here! Just, it might help wash off some of that lingering male gaze?" Alex attempted. "I can watch over the ziti, make sure it doesn't burn." Her hand pulled away, leaving Josie to wish she could hold it just a moment longer.

"You sure? That, kind of feels awful rude? Just leaving you here with nothing to do while I take a shower?" Josie allowed her fingers to flail slightly, to attempt to call Alex's fingers back, silently begging for a reason to stay, to enjoy every moment she could with the sweet officer.

"Yeah. You are all good." Alex seemed to clam up, but Josie couldn't figure for the life of her why. What had she done? Did she offend the officer without realizing it? "I'm happy to watch over everything for you. I just want you to feel better. Washing up, and getting all that grime off of you will surely help." Alex receded further within herself. "M! Metaphorical grime! Not actually saying you are covered in real grime!" Alex anxiously explained away her logic.

"Yeah. Of course. I understand." Josie finally pulled her hand back, realizing that Alex wouldn't be giving her a reason to stay. "I, I umm, I'll be quick. Just a hasty shower and I'll be back out."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere till you tell me to."

Something of that still stung. It was like Alex was expecting Josie to kick her out? Why would the kind officer be expecting that? "Ok then." Josie had almost entirely recoiled within the shell that was Alex's jacket. She felt like she had done something wrong, that she had hurt or offended Alex in some way.

A short shower and a quick change didn't take long. Maybe seven minutes in total? But it was near a full twenty before she emerged from the bathroom fully clothed in her pajamas. She had spent well over ten minutes just replaying the night in her head. Everything since Alex had saved her. Had she read the signs wrong? Said something to offend or off-put Alex? What should she do? What did she want?

The only real answers Josie had after her time pondering the questions were that she didn't want sex. At least not so suddenly. It wasn't that she didn't want it at all. There was certainly a corner of her that wanted it. A corner that seemed to refuse to dry no matter how much she had toweled herself down. It certainly wanted Alex in those ways, but that wasn't a thing that felt right. Not on the first night. That wasn't the way to have a first time; or at least not the way she wanted to have hers. Whether or not she wanted sex, she wanted Alex. Not like that, she wanted to spend time with Alex, to enjoy their meal together and share more time together. Then there was the thing she wanted most, god did she crave to fall back into Alex's arms like she had the first moment she saw the officer. With what little she could determine decided, Josie marched out from the bathroom. Adorned in her fuzzy slippers, matching top and bottom blue dolphin print pajamas, and her hair all wrapped up in a towel. She almost immediately ran into Alex.

"Oh god! I'm sorry! I was coming to tell you that it smelled ready so I took it out of the oven!" Alex jumped back.

"I'm sorry I took so long. Guess there was a lot of grime to wash up, figurative and literal." Josie rubbed at her sore shoulder and tried to play it off as just a nothing more than a long shower.

"As long as you are ok and feeling better? That is all that matters." Alex asserted.

"Thanks Alex." Josie smiled. The anxieties that had plagued her, keeping her caught stationary in the bathroom seeping off at the sight of the officer saying such caring things.

"Any time! Uugh? Dinner? Ready to eat?"

"God yes, that sounds heavenly." Josie could almost hear her stomach rumble in agreement.

"Great! Cause it does smell really good." Alex ushered Josie back over to the kitchen area of the apartment.

"Where would you like to eat? Right here or over on the couch? We could watch some tv if you like? I don't know, maybe, umm…" Josie didn't expect it to be so hard to suggest this. "Maybe we could like cuddle on the couch a little? J! Just a little I mean! And! And just that! Nothing more!" Josie was quick to clarify. She didn't want any misunderstandings or hurt feelings if Alex got the wrong idea and expected that she would be getting more than she actually would be getting.

"Oh? Is that something you would like? I mean! Is that something you would be comfortable with?" Alex blushed and looked around. She seemed to have a hard time making eye contact in the wake of all the awkwardness.

"I would really like that. Yes. It would mean a lot to me." Josie's eyes fell to her fuzzy slippers as her feet danced anxiously under her.

"I'll set us up some plates. You go pick something you like to watch." Alex moved swiftly, giving Josie a quick tight hug, one that left Josie still on her toes desperate and leaning into air, begging for more when the officer was gone only an instant later.

She had no idea what to do, say, or think, still caught in the daze of wishing Alex had lingered there in the hug. Eventually, her senses returned to her and she remembered she had been given instructions.

It took a moment, but she found something. Some night time talk show with a celebrity host and guests. It wasn't something she expected to be overwhelmingly captivating television, but that wasn't the point. She just wanted something in the background to occupy any awkward silences over the meal. Alex arrived at the couch with plates and forks in hand. She passed one serving off to Josie before plopping down next to the waitress.

Josie frowned and sighed lightly to herself. It wasn't like Alex had sat miles away, but it was a little farther than she would have hoped. Shrugging, she allowed the worries of distance to melt away in lieu of focusing on her meal.

Josie was midway through her third heaving and far from ladylike bite when Alex leaned in and nudged her shoulder. "It's uugh, it's really good. Thank you Josie. I really appreciate it."

"Oh! Of course!" Josie turned to Alex, feeling more than a mite oafish at the half bite of ziti hanging out of her mouth.

Alex smiled and allowed herself to lean into Josie just another moment longer than she otherwise might have.

"So, umm, how was your day outside of the shoot out, and well this of course?"

"Until then? It had been a quiet day. My partner and I were not expecting such a big shootout like that. We just got a call to calm down some kid looking like he was breaking into that building. Didn't expect him to have a gun when we arrived." Alex grazed over her plate, eating a bite here and there intermittently as she spoke.

"Oh wow. That must have been really scary?" Josie may or may not have been mildly swooning at the officer regaling her tails of the field, but she would never admit it.

"Pfft! Yeah! I was scared for some girl marching right into the line of fire with her eyes closed and headphones in so she couldn't hear when I was yelling at her to stay away." Alex placed her half-finished plate down on Josie's coffee table a moment after realizing that Josie had done it as well. Although, Josie's plate seemed to be more or less empty. She must have been hungry? "You really scared the hell out of me. You know that Josie?" Alex admitted, looking down and then around.

"If it makes you feel any better, you gave me quite the startle as well." Josie scooched another half seat closer to Alex. "But it was pretty nice of you to catch me." Josie's eyes drooped wearily. The day and its events were finally catching up to her now that she had gotten a shower and a good meal. Everything from that point forward was more or less of a vague haze. She generally could remember making some halfhearted comments about wanting to be back in Alex's arms again. How warm and comforting it had felt. She wasn't sure, but she thought she could remember laying her head down and saying something about how much safer she had felt with Alex there. How skeeved out she had been from the manager and his creepy advances, that it sucked that he couldn't just understand she was a lesbian, and how nice it was that Alex hadn't been like him.

Josie woke, sometime around ten in the morning? Maybe later given how much sunlight was streaming in through the window? She expected to feel warmth. The warmth of Alex under her. But it was cold. It wasn't the case, but it felt like she had left the window open. "Alex?" She called out weakly. The sun burned her eyes as she strained to keep them open. "Alex, where'd you go?" She blinked, looking around. "Alex?" Her voice wavered. It caught in her throat as she realized why no one had called back. Alex's plate rested exactly where she had dropped it the night before. Half-eaten, then ignored. Past that, the leather jacket had been folded neatly, a singular square post-it note left atop it.

Punch that manager of yours right in the nose for me. K? -Alex

P.S. Keep the jacket, it looked good on you.

Josie wanted to smile, to rejoice in the kindness of the gift. The jacket had been incredibly comforting after all, but it wasn't a gift of greeting. The lack of a number or contact info on the post-it proved that. It was a goodbye.

End of Chapter 2

Huge thanks to BraveVesperia01! They have been so kind as to commission this fic. It means alot to me, writing is the thing I love most in the world and it is an amazing feeling to get to do it in a professional sense! The original character of Josie was created by them, and they gave me the idea for this story! So if you enjoyed, definitely thank them for reaching out to me on my tumbler and commissioning me to get this story made. Feel free to reach out to me on my Tumblr hopefulbadgerjunara if you have any interest in seeing more commissions like this.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Josie refused to admit that she was hurt. That liquid coming from her eyes! That was just from the abundance of sun, or because she got a crick in her neck from falling asleep on the couch! Anything! Anything to excuse it away as simply not being tears! Nothing would make her admit it! Nothing! Not the mound of used tissues piling up on the coffee table, her tired, red, itchy, and swollen eyes, or even the fact that she had hit the bottom of her emergency in case of break up pint of triple chocolate fudge ice cream an hour earlier. Even on those seldom moments where she might have admitted even just to herself that she had been crying, Josie was hasty to dismiss it as having nothing to do with the officer. She had been through a lot the previous night! Been shot at! She deserved a cry! If that was what she was admitting it to be.

Somewhere between returning from the third and fourth trip to the fridge in search of chocolate she no longer had, Josie grabbed the jacket Alex had left. It felt mean. To just leave it there like that for her. How could the sweet officer be so mean as to leave the beautiful worn leather jacket there to taunt her? All it would do is remind her of Alex. How she was sweet but stern. Beautiful and strong. The moment she began to tear up Josie tossed the jacket angrily against the other side of the couch. "Damnit!" She sniffled, collapsing down into the couch and curling up. "Why the hell do I even care?" With a huff and a kick at the end of the couch, she curled up into the soft upholstery. Eventually, she fell back asleep on the couch. A corner of her was just hoping that it had all been a dream, that she would wake back up in Alex's arms, that the officer might wake her with soft kisses and a gentle caress pulling her hair back behind her ear. Such fantasies, however, were relegated to her dreams alone.

Josie woke to her phone's two o'clock alarm blaring. With a whine and a groan, she turned to shut it off. "Uugh, work." Another sluggardly groan eeped from her lips before she took in a deep preparatory breath, one intended to prepare herself for the world and all the miniature hells it contained. She didn't want to go, but it was too late to call in sick. So there was no real choice in the matter one way or another. With a third deep breath; because it already felt like it would just be that kind of day, the odor finally hit Josie. Smacked her right across the face. For a half-second, she actually thought it was Alex, that the officer had returned. It only took the other half-second for her to realize that simply wasn't the case. She had pulled the jacket over herself in her sleep. Telling herself it had just been a matter of warmth, Josie pretended that the jacket didn't give her some sort of comfort. That feeling the jacket draped over her didn't make her feel safe again, the way she had felt when she was with Alex.

Warmth was again the excuse when it came to snuggling into the corner of the sofa with the jacket until her second alarm began to scream as well. Knowing she would most likely be a little lethargic today after having stayed up so late, Josie caved and stood to get ready for work. She wished she could linger in the twilight between sleep and waking, but such luxuries were not for today.

Eventually, Josie managed to pry herself away from the couch. Tossing the jacket away like it was a sign of weakness to care about it, she headed off to get ready for work. She began with makeup, then getting her uniform together. Thank god she had another ready before laundry day. One glance at how messy yesterday's was and her skin crawled. With uniform and makeup all fixed up, Josie turned to her hair. It had dried while she was sleeping and made for one mess of a bedhead, but ten minutes with a flat iron seemed to fix that. A granola bar in her pocket, and she was ready to go. By all accounts, she was ready at least. She ran down the list of things she always grabbed before heading out, nothing was lost. She hadn't missed anything. But she felt like something was missing. One glance back at the couch told her what it was, she felt it was missing.

Twenty minutes later, Josie reached the diner. "Swanky! I like it!" A coworker sang with a little dance as she greeted Josie in the back room.

"Huh?" Josie picked her head up from its place locked, looking down to the ground.

"The jacket." She whistled at Josie playfully. "Who got you that thing? No way you got that working here, not unless you have been working more doubles than I thought you were."

Josie shrugged. "Well, the bossman did have me here till almost one yesterday. But, no you are right. I didn't get it for myself. It was a gift. Of sorts at least." Her head fell once more at the thoughts of Alex that her coworker's words brought up.

"Well, whoever it is, I gotta get me one of them if they are just giving out coats like that!"

Josie chuckled softly. "I don't know that I will be seeing them again." She flickered a weak falsehood of a smile to her friend.

"And why the hell not?"

"I don't think they want to… continue." Josie was left questioning what there even was to continue if Alex had wanted.

"Well, that's a damn shame. I haven't seen you so down since they took the chocoholic cake off the menu here."

"Hey! Those leftovers were delicious!" Josie cracked an actual smile.

"Yeah, yeah, it was. But it never sold enough. I think between the two of us, we took home more than had ever actually sold."

"Ahh, such a shame the customers never knew just how fantastic it was."

"Yes. It was a shame, and it's a shame that you are just gonna let that girl slip away like that."

"H- how did you know?!"

"Oh, please. First off, used jacket, female cut. Second off, I see where your eyes go. They never linger on men like they do women."

"I, I guess you are right." Josie finally pulled the jacket off, placing it on the employee coat rack. She missed it the moment it was off.

"Don't let her get away then. You got her jacket, right? Maybe use it as an excuse to get her back." The coworker winked at Josie before heading out with a wave goodbye.

"Yeah." Josie sighed as she pulled at the jacket's sleeves, straightening it on the coat hanger. Even if she was mad at Alex, it felt like taking anything less than immaculate care for the jacket would be disrespectful in one way or another. Although, she had thrown it around a good bit that morning, so immaculate care might not be extremely realistic.

Josie's shift was slow, slow but good for the most part. Everything just seemed to be like moving through water. The only action she seemed to be capable of pulling off at her normal speed was snapping her eyes out the diner windows when she heard a police siren or a cruiser pulled up. Try as she might, she wouldn't have even been capable of seeing through the tinted windows of the cop cars. So even if Alex had been behind that glass, it wouldn't have mattered, it wouldn't have changed anything. Slow as they may have been, the hours ticked away. Josie turned her lunch break down. Instead, she just took an extra fiver and smacked through half of her granola bar. It seemed easier when she at least had something to do. Not that they were busy. But when on the clock there is always something that can be done.

Eventually, they closed up for the night. It was quickly getting to be well past eleven-thirty, then eleven forty-five, twelve went by and Josie hadn't even noticed or reminded her manager that there was an issue of safety going home late at night. Maybe it was just because the next day was her day off? That often makes one a little cheerier and more willing to stay an extra couple minutes right? It didn't really matter. At least it didn't to Josie. Once more, her manager took his sweet time counting the tills and depositing the day's earnings in the safe as Josie finished up all the cleaning and straightening up they had to do for the night.

"Oh, wow! I am really sorry. I fudged up with the count twice tonight. Now we've stayed way too late huh?" He fidgeted anxiously, once more messing around like he was attempting to blurt out something he had rehearsed.

"You did?" Josie hollowly replied with a simple glance at her watch. One forty-five. Had he fucking fallen asleep in there?! It was the only logical explanation, at least the only one that didn't make Josie want to wretch. Suppressing the urge to puke, Josie attempted to move forward. "Wow, that really stinks." She strived to be polite.

"Yeah." He lingered. "Did you hear about that shoot out last night? Happened right about now last night."

"Oh, yeah, wow." Josie emptily nodded back, staring out the window like Alex might pass by suddenly.

"It's just really scary. Especially because that is off in the direction you live right?"

"Mhmm." Josie just hummed affirmatively.

"You know, I'd really feel better about it all if you were safe." The manager wrung his hands anxiously.

"Yup." Josie just stared out the window.

"I'm glad you agree!" He relaxed his hands finally allowing them to drop to his sides.

Josie hummed back once more, paying him next to no mind if any at all.

"So, I was thinking it would really just be for the best if you came home with me tonight. I know you aren't on the schedule tomorrow. So you don't need to be worried about being ready for a shift in the morning or anything. Like I said yesterday, my place is just around the corner. And! And I have a car, so no lengthy dangerous walk there."

"I'm sorry what?" Josie's senses finally alerted her to something that seemed to actually require some form of a legitimate answer.

"I was just saying how dangerous your walk home must be, especially with that firefight the cops got in last night over in the direction to your place."

"Yeah. I know. I accidentally walked into them shooting at each other." Josie half snapped in her agitated state.

"Oh god! That is crazy! Wow! Well, that settles it then!"

"Settles what? You are finally going to stop holding me later then I said I was available when I was hired?"

"No! No!" He waved his hand off like the idea was outrageous. "Of course not. It is a much better idea! I offered for you to come back with me to my place again. You aren't scheduled for tomorrow." He repeated.

"N- No!" Josie snapped.

"No… way you could turn that down you mean, right?" He chuckled and attempted to play it off slyly.

"No. I am not at all interested in accompanying you home!" It wasn't the same as punching him right in the nose, but it felt like a good substitute that wouldn't get her fired or result in the cops being called on her for assault.

"I-" He stammered aghast.

"Do you need anything else of me as an employer?"

"No. You are done for the day."

"Good. In that case, goodnight." Josie stormed off with a rather successful smile on her face. She grabbed Alex's jacket off the hook, and damn if it didn't feel good. She adored it, the cut, how it felt on her shoulders, and most of all how she finally felt she filled it out just right; now that she was standing tall it was the perfect fit.

Prideful as she may have been when she left, such second winds never seemed to last all too long. Her sails fell flat and even began to regress in still water the moment she hit the same corner she had made a turn at the previous night. She was faced with the exact same decision on the surface. Spend an extra couple minutes walking home or risk a drunkard escaping from a bar at or just after last call and turning their frustration on her. She suddenly felt small all over again. Wearing holes in the bottom of her flats, Josie bounced back and forth. She couldn't figure out which path she wanted to take. Maybe a corner of her wanted to stay there. Right at that intersection. It was a bad area. Right around there was the best place to get caught up in trouble. Maybe if she found herself some to get tangled up in she would run back into Alex? No! No! That was insane!

Josie Insane Maxwell, she would most certainly have to change her name! Because just going by Josie Maxwell would be more than misleading at this point given she had begun meandering back and forth across the four blocks surrounding the previous night's shootout. She knew how stupid it was, how unlikely anything was to happen and how even if something even happened, there was no guarantee Alex would be there. Her eyes darted along each and every corner of the street, following and anticipating what might be behind it. Not an iota of her mind felt safe or like it was even in the vaguest way a good idea at all. But she kept walking back and forth, marching over the same ground. It was dubious as to whether she was hopeful or fearful for whatever might be there, for something bad to happen. Josie didn't want to be hurt. That was for sure. She never wanted that. It had never been the goal. Not that she had much of a goal at all to begin with. It wasn't a well-thought plan, and it ended before she actually began to feel holes wearing through her shoes.

Even if the aimless pacing hadn't succeeded in reuniting her with Alex directly, it felt like it had succeeded in something. It wore her out and then some. She finally returned to her apartment with legs that felt more like jelly than bone.

Kicking off her shoes, Josie settled on a plan. She trudged off, near collapsing as she arrived at her bed. With a significant thunk, she allowed herself to topple face-first down into the bed. She didn't bother to remove her waitressing outfit. That would be far too much work for how exhausted she felt. All she had managed to do was unzip the jacket. Not all the way down tho; no she just pulled the zipper back down to the same height that Alex had pulled it down to the night before. It felt right there. Before she could think to do much else or even pull the sheets up over herself, she was out like a light.

Her dreams re-enforced the everything that she had been thinking about that whole day. Many of them were flooded with memories melded with fantasy. There were some innocent. Just pristine clear little dreams of being curled up against Alex. Wouldn't it be nice? To be curled up in Alex's arms. The officer holding her like she had the first time she laid her eyes on her from upside down. Or like the most recent. All warm and dry, with her fuzzy slippers and soft pajamas. Those must have been the nicest dreams she had that night? Mustn't they have been? Or maybe the nicest dreams were the ones which slid a little further risque?

The dreams where she sat in Alex's lap. Kissing with all she had. Those were, in fact, some fantastic dreams, fantastic dreams for sure. Especially when they didn't just stop there. When one of Alex's hands would slip up the inside of her shirt. Unclasping her bra with such swift ease just the relief left her panting into the kisses before Alex had even touched her. The way nimble fingers found her peaks in just a wonderful instant. The soft moans it left her in, desperate and wanton for more. Craving that which she had never truly tasted before. The embarrassing wreck it left her core in, even within dreams. Yes. Those were certainly the best dreams she had that night. Though nothing is only gold. And if it was, Josie's high school English teacher had taught her anything that was just gold couldn't stay.

In between those beautiful, wondrously wholesome, and seductively sultry dreams, there were dreams lined in lead. Dreams that dragged her down and ruined the slumber and it's perfectly marred purity. Nightmares, horrible ones of waking up once more under the assumption that Alex would be there, but to have her already gone. It shouldn't have been so bad. Just to wake up alone? She had been doing that her whole life. One, maybe two nights prior she had allowed a girlfriend to stay the night under the express understanding that it would only mean sleeping together, and not, well… sleeping together, as one might say. Tho even back then, waking without her partner the morning after was rather rough too. But had it always been this rough? That shattering? She had never spent hours pacing back and forth, up and down dangerous streets for hours on end before. That was for certain. Reliving it again and again in her dreams didn't seem to make the pain any easier either.

But, when she woke. She woke to light streaming in the windows like any other day. The pain was gone. Not that she didn't miss Alex anymore, because she still did. The pain was gone because she had a plan.

End of Chapter 3

Author's note: Wanna get updates on my stories early, hear what's going on and why my dumb ass is behind on updating or when updates might be coming/what stories might be coming next? Follow me on Tumblr: Hopedfulbadgerjunara

Huge thanks to BraveVesperia01! They have been so kind as to commission this fic. It means alot to me, writing is the thing I love most in the world and it is an amazing feeling to get to do it in a professional sense! The original character of Josie was created by them, and they gave me the idea for this story! So if you enjoyed, definitely thank them for reaching out to me on my tumbler and commissioning me to get this story made. Feel free to reach out to me on my Tumblr hopefulbadgerjunara if you have any interest in seeing more commissions like this.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Oooohhh! Lookie who it is!" Alex had already begun rolling her eyes and sighing at the overzealous welcome before he had even begun.

"Cut it out, cut it out." Alex waved him off and rested her arms on her bulky belt.

"Pfft! What? No way in hell! You got's to spill!"

"Spill what?" Alex lowered her glare just a mite without giving much if anything up.

"You know what!"

"Oh? I do now?"

"Yup!" His smile cracked a little wider. "So get on with it already!"

"On with what Adam?" Alex attempted to pay him no mind as she clocked in and set herself up for the day.

"Al, you can play dumb all you want but if you aren't gonna spill in the slightest, then maybe I won't cover for you the next time that you wanna walk a cute girl like that home."

"There's nothing to tell. Alright?" Alex shuffled some papers to get them lined up and neat. "She's gay. So there's nothing to tell."

"Well good! You are too! So that should be great news Al! What am I missing here?" Adam fished with a half preformative baffled look.

"You know exactly what is. You aren't missing a damn thing Adam."

"So? What? You just walked her home and left without even telling her."

"No." Alex looked with an iron-clad focus down at her desk.

"So you told her?"

"Not in so many words."

"Mhmm." He hummed back doubtfully.

"Or, potentially." Alex clung to the words like if she could just stretch them out long enough she wouldn't have to finish. "Potentially, none at all."

"I figured as much."

"But no! I didn't just 'walk her home and left without even telling her', she invited me up to her place." Alex defended to make it seem like she hadn't lied so egregiously.

"Wait! Are you telling me that she invited you up and you didn't even take her up on the offer? That's it! I'm walking the next one home! I don't care if she is wearing your coat or not! I got dibs."

"I didn't just give her my coat as a dibs!" Alex felt dirty at the mear suggestion. "I gave it to her cause she was wearing fucking nothing and she was shaking like a damn leaf! She needed the coat."

He just grunted back his disapproval.

"And I, for your information! I went up to her apartment with her! So ha! There! And dude, stop saying you have 'dibs' on girls, it is why you are single."

"I am single because I want to be. And you are telling me there is nothing to tell, but that she is gay, she didn't oppose to what I know you think is your issue, and that SHE invited you up into her apartment? She invited you up to her apartment! Not that you pushed or asked her to let you come up. But that she invited you?" He shook his head in distilled disbelief. "She wanted you to come up to her apartment with her?" He still couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes. So what?"

"So, I am not saying she wanted-"

"She didn't want to have sex with me, and that was under the assumptions she had without any corrections."

"Ok, fine, I'm not anyone to say whether she wanted you that way. But if she invited you up, that is… she liked you. That is all I am saying."

"Well, she wouldn't if she knew. So that's it."

"Why the hell do you just assume that?"

"Because she is gay."

"Good! You are too!"

"It's not like that Adam."

"Are you telling me that you aren't gay?" Adam rose an eyebrow.

"Even if I wasn't, the answer would be no Adam. We are partners. We will never be partners." Alex sang the word the second time around to display a distinction.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes, you did." Alex flashed a cocky look.

"Ok, maybe I did, but I rest my point. I am straight. She is gay. So you and her are definitely playing the same sport. It's just you wanna be playing outfield for some reason when y'all could be making out in the dugout."

Alex chuckled at the metaphor but still sighed disheartened. "It wouldn't have worked. Ok? So please just drop it."

"Fine." Adam forfeited and honestly meant to move the topic on to other things. "Where's your jacket?"

"I left it with her." Alex spoke with a downtrodden tone, but it went right over Adam's head entirely.

"Yo- You what!?" Adam lost his breath into a sip of satan's soul style coffee.

"I left it with her." Alex had hoped it could be so simply be left at that and that he would cease with his poking and prodding for the night. God, only fifteen minutes into her shift, the day after she has off and she was already exhausted. This in no way boded well for the day.

"Ahh! I see what you did then." Adam relaxed as best as he could while still coughing up a lung and the most bitter cop coffee known to mankind.

"What did I do?" Alex couldn't help but take the bait.

"You are gonna use the jacket as an excuse to go see her again huh? I get it, that's smooth. Next level over there, huh, Al?"

"No. I left her a note. I told her to keep it. It would be really rather rude if I returned and asked for it back now. So, no more jacket. I'll snag one of the NCPD windbreakers in the office before we head out for patrol."

"That's cold."

"It's a windbreaker, I'll be fine. Worst case scenario, I can just layer up."

"No, no. It is cold to just leave a note like that." Adam clarified.

"It's not like I slept with her or anything." Alex defended with the aversion of her own eyes.

"What did you two do then anyway? What was the point of her inviting you up?"

"It isn't like the only thing two adults can do in another person's apartment is have sex Adam." Alex's tone slipped lectures.

"I know that!" Adam gave a defensive chuckle that made it overly transparent that he couldn't think of much else two adults would do in one's apartment. "But still! What did y'all end up doing then?"

"She made me dinner." Alex forced a fake grin, or maybe she just forced out the regret ruining the grin that came naturally?

"Aww. That's sweet. What'd she make you."

"She just reheated some ziti. But, it was really good."

"So what? You dined and dashed on the cute waitress? Well, I think I'm gonna have to arrest you for that there Al." Adam teased with a bright and smug look.

"Really? Really? That is the joke you went with?"

"Oh, I'm proud of it!" Adam defended.

"I'm sure you are." Alex rolled her eyes. "But no. I did not just dine and dash on the hot waitress."

"So? Then what did you do?"

"I listened to her vent about her creep of a boss. She explicitly stated that she was a Lesbian with a capital L." Alex only gave a momentary lingual lull, but Adam capitalized on even the singular second of silence.

"Yeah, meaning she would be into you. Because you are both women." Adam asserted once more.

"Will you let me finish a sentence?" Alex snapped a rubber band towards her partner's desk like lecturing a dog with a spray bottle of water.

"Fine." He demonstrated a belabored groan.

"She took a shower and-"

Adam whistled. "Ohh! She wanted to be all fresh for you. You sure she didn't want sex? Cause it sounds lik-" Adam stopped dead in his tracks, witnessing the look of pure murderous intent in Alex's eyes as they burrowed down on him. "Oh! No! I'm sorry! You continue!"

"She did not want to have sex. When the ziti was done I went to go get her and she was just getting out of the shower. We ate some, sitting on the couch, and she asked me to hold her." Alex paused, noticing as Adam's disposition turned overly impatient.

"That is really sweet! What the hell went so wrong that you didn't even try to tell her? You will never find someone if you never find it in yourself to tell them." He caught a hurting look on Alex's face and rushed to add. "Not, not that you owe it to anyone or anything. But, you seem to be dead set on telling the people you are with about it. So, I maintain my point." He let it rest with that. He wasn't sure what to say or how to say it, but he did want to help, to be there for his partner and help her out as best he could.

"I know, and I would have told her." Alex could see him looking back at her with some lacking level of belief. "I would have told her, but quickly after she cuddled up to me, and I wrapped my arms around her…"

"What?"

"She just went on about how happy she was that she felt safe with me. How disgusting her boss was. How much men disgusted her."

"So-" Adam was quickly talked over.

"How she had no interest in going anywhere near his penis or anyone else's, and that the thought alone made her skin crawl."

"Oof, Jesus Al. I- I'm sorry."

"Well, there you have it. That's the whole story, nothing more. I didn't want to push it. I left the jacket and a note that said to punch her boss for me." Alex leaned back in her chair, allowing the stench of defeat to wash over her.

"Maybe she'll punch him and call the cops?"

"Maybe, but it wouldn't change anything. She is cute and sweet, but she's not the one." Alex turned in her chair to look away from the entrance she had been locked on if only to hide the emotions evident on her face. Slowly she brought herself to look back to Adam.

"That's a damn shame there Al. I'm really sorry." A distracted look grew on Adam's face as he seemed to look over and beyond Alex instead of towards her.

"Seriously, can you not bring yourself to look in my direction even?"

"Huh? Yeah, totally, sorry." He nodded but seemed to still be looking above and beyond her.

"You are the one who asked me to spill the beans! You pushed and pushed until I finally told you. You made me rehash everything with that girl and all just to have you ignore me when I start pouring my heart out."

"Mhmm." He nodded again, but almost like he was intentionally trying to rile her up more.

"Are you kidding me? I tell you about how cute n' sweet this girl was and how much it hurt to just leave like that and you just brush me off when I finish and start looking for any actual support?" Alex snapped angrily, her sensitive emotions lashing back out at her for having allowed herself to be so vulnerable.

"Why don't you tell me more?"

"What the hell more is there to tell you! I liked her, and it sucked leaving like that! It hurt, but I won't be seeing her again, so it is what it is." Alex went to grab another rubber band to shoot at him, but then she caught sight of her.

"It hurt you too?" Josie pulled the jacket laying over her arms crossed in front of her chest closer into her like it could provide some protection; any protection, anything at all.

"J! Josie!" Alex nearly fell out of her seat in the surprise.

"I! I, uugh, I think it is about time I go for my coffee break. Gotta fill er up." Adam waived his coffee mug around. "Plus, you two look like you could just a moment or two all to your selves."

Alex did her best to telepathically communicate to Adam how much of an asshole he was, but the smug look on his face told her that he already knew.

"Take care you two!" He enjoyed himself as he teased Alex and left her in the awkward position, hoping that she could bring herself to rectify what she had done two nights prior.

Josie, as politely as she could manage, cleared her throat to remind Alex that she was there still.

"Oh! Shit! I! Hi! J! Josie!" Alex stammered, spinning back around to Josie with a blush and an anxious look.

"Hi." Josie tried politely with a gentle nod.

"Hey." Alex waived embarrassed.

"Why?" Josie looked down to her feet embarrassed as well and having a hard time processing it or understand exactly why she had come here to do this.

"Hi? Why! Why?" Alex stumbled to figure out what Josie meant to say through her mumbling. "Oh? Why? I…" Answering that felt like attempting to summit Everest; plausible, for certain, but not in a single bound nor any easy response.

"You said it hurt you too." Josie clutched to the jacket; it was her only armor, her singular defense and excuse for returning heart in hand.

"It…" Alex looked down only to force herself to look back up at Josie. "It did. But-"

"But what!" Josie demanded any substantive response, any real answer, anything but the stalling that seemed to make up all of what Alex had to say.

Alex took a moment to calm herself and rip off the bandage. "I am sorry. It did hurt. But we wouldn't have worked out, and I didn't want to waste your time any more than I already had."

"Why not?" The words slipped from Josie's lips before she even realized she had opened her mouth to say them.

"Why not what?"

Figuring that whatever damage could be done had already begun, so why not go ahead and slam down on the gas? "Why wouldn't we have worked out?"

Alex's face seemed to drop right to the floor while still staring straight up at Josie. "Why we wouldn't have worked out?"

Josie's pointed stern glare pressed for Alex to stop stalling.

"I! It's not you! It's-" Alex realized exactly how it would sound if she continued like that and pivoted as best she could. "Oh fuck that is not what I meant! I! It isn't me either! It is just that it wouldn't work!" Alex could see she was only digging herself a deeper and deeper hole with each sentence. "I'm trans!" The officer blurted out with no real explanation.

Josie's brow furrowed, and for the first second, she felt not even the slightest hint of anger or hurt for what had happened, just confusion. "What?"

"I'm trans. So, it wouldn't have worked. Ok?"

"Have… have I been getting your pronouns wrong?" Josie squinted unsure. Not that presentation is everything, it isn't by a long shot, but the clearly intentionally female presentation the officer gave off left her rather baffled.

"No. I'm just a trans woman. That is all. So I am sorry I wasted your time. And I'm sorry you wasted your time coming all the way out here. I should have left more of a note than I did… or maybe I should have just told you instead of leaving a note like that. It, it was kinda shitty of me just to leave a note." Alex acknowledged.

"Yes. Yes, it was." Josie settled on that much, it was all she felt like she had a solid hold on anymore. Latching on to it she continued. "It wasn't like I was expecting you to be there when I woke up… Ok! Well, I was. But I figured if you left you would leave more than just a note and a jacket. A phone number at least!"

"Well, now you know why I didn't leave my number. I'm sorry you got hurt too. That wasn't my intention in the slightest." Alex settled with a heartfelt expression.

"Wait, no. I don't understand why. Why didn't you leave your number?" Josie still didn't feel like she understood that bit at all.

"I'm transgender. That's why." Alex thought that would be it, that with that and that alone the issue would be settled and she could return to her work to only cringe over the memories of the night they met from then on.

"So what?" Josie fished emptily.

"So, I am not necessarily working with the same hardware downstairs that you are."

"Ok?" Josie clung to the syllable.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time." Alex couldn't take it, she couldn't bring herself to keep staring at Josie. It just stung too much. A reminder of all the things she was but felt she simply didn't get to be because of her body.

"I still don't get it." Josie was sweet and kind but versed in internalized trans-exclusionary radical feminism and the effects of transphobia on a kind trans officer she was not. Nor did she remember the small anti phallus tirade she had rambled on about before falling asleep int Alex's arms the night they met.

"What is there not to get Josie. You are a lesbian and I am trans." Alex resisted the urge to look up to the waitress.

"You are a woman, right?" Josie's scrunched up face fought to understand, and she accidentally missed how it might sound to the officer.

"Yes!" Alex snapped angrier than she had intended. "Just because I am trans does not make me any less a woman. If you don't agree, you are welcome to continue with any official police business you need to proceed with. But other than that, please leave."

"No, I just! Oh god. I'm sorry. That is not what I meant. I just meant to clarify that you identify as a woman. I really didn't mean it like that." Josie's face reflected how stressed she was quickly becoming at the fear that she had hurt Alex.

"Yes. Yes, I do." Alex sighed, deflating slowly.

"Then what is the issue? You may be trans, but you are still a woman. Why, why just leave like that without leaving your number? What about it wouldn't have worked?"

Alex looked up, a non-negligible corner of her feeling toyed with, teased while the rest of her couldn't hold back her curiosity, and nothing of her could hold back the impulse that came naturally in all of her exhausted frustration. "Because I have a dick Josie!" Alex stood, needing anything to break the tension between her ears and across her temples.

Josie blushed at the brash announcement. "I mean, I figured from your comment about downstairs hardware. But I still don't understand why you left, what the issue was?"

"That's why Josie. That is the issue." With a huff, the officer decided she couldn't take any of the interaction any longer and she turned away. "I have paperwork to return to, and given how this day has started, I am most certainly going to need some coffee to get through it."

"Stop." Josie reached out instinctively, catching Alex's fingertips as she reached across the desk. She couldn't get the grip she had hoped for, not the wholehearted grasp she aimed at, but the brush was more than enough to halt the office in her heated tracks.

"You don't remember do you?" Alex was still facing away, but she was fighting with her frozen feet to turn towards Josie.

"Remember what? What did I do wrong? I thought you had actually been enjoying yourself when you came up to my apartment."

"You made it very clear that you had absolutely no interest in being with anyone that has what I have, and rather than deal with that whole conversation, it was just less painful to leave the note and let you sleep."

"Because I vented about my manager?"

"Yes." Alex admitted.

"I- Well! That isn't the same! Just because… I! I don't exactly know how to explain it! But it is different! It! It is who it is attached to! Not what it is! And I am sorry I offended you."

"You didn't offend me." Alex would admit it was a fine line between hurt and offend, but if the line existed, Josie certainly hadn't been on the offend side of it in Alex's eyes.

"Good." Josie settled in a succinct upbeat grunt.

"Good?" Alex's toes began to thaw.

"Because, if you promise to leave me with more than a piece of paper telling me to punch my boss, then I would really like to try again."

"You'd like to what?" Alex could finally feel her heels again.

"I'd like to try again. If you are up for it?"

Alex was speechless.

"I know it isn't really right to show up to your workplace like this. But when I came here, I had really just meant to leave the jacket for you; to return it."

"What?"

"Well, admittedly, I was going to leave a note with it. But plans just kinda went out of the window entirely when I walked in here… when I walked in and you were talking about me." Josie knew she was wearing a blush that could rival a tomato, but she had to get the words out.

The officer found it in herself to turn around on icy ankles, but the chill seemed to have migrated to her throat when she choaked up and froze before a cognizant response could work it's way to her lips.

"Alex? I- I'm kinda hanging out on a flimsy branch here. I- would you like to try again? To- to maybe go out together sometime or something? I! If you want!" Josie was thankful for the jacket covering her hands and concealing their shaking with anxiety and the thud of her heart that felt near enough to knock her over.

"I-" Alex's voice cracked like it hadn't since when she was a teen. "I'd really like that if you are up for it?" In a rush, it hit her how hard her heart pounded and how hot the tips of her ears burned in embarrassment.

"I! Well! I am the one that came here with the excuse of returning your jacket to get you my number." Josie laughed herself and the gay mess she was.

Alex laughed too. They both needed the soft chuckle. The small reprieve allowed them both to return to a homeostasis and stabilize after the heart-pounding anxiety-inducing conversation constituted of confusion. "You are sure?" Alex paused a moment doubting her phrasing. "Are you sure! I mean! Is this something you really want?"

"It is." Josie smiled softly and their eyes met again finally.

"And you are ok with the…" Alex's pupils bounced down, gesturing to below her own belt."

"I mean! I! That isn't something to worry about just yet is it!?" Josie's posture suddenly snapped immaculate. "I mean! Yes! But! But! I! I! I just!" Josie stammered terrified by the connotations and implications of the question.

"I didn't mean it in the way of any time soon, or even necessarily ever. Just like…"

"I! I am just as fine with it as I would be if we had matching plumbing?" Josie half interrupted with her hopeful offer of validation.

Alex found that her lips had curved up in a delighted smile. "That's perfect. All I could ever ask."

"Good!" Josie's smile mimicked Alex's.

"Thanks." Alex blushed in gay delight.

"Oh! Your jacket!" Josie pushed it out and towards Alex.

"Nah, you keep it."

"It's your jacket!" Josie argued and offered it up once more.

"How about this-" Alex cocked her grin a little wider, finally feeling back to herself, back in her comfort zone. "I'm sure you had to take a bus here and still had to walk a good bit. You wear it home, and then I can pick it up from you when I get off work; when I pick you up to take you to dinner?"

Josie lit up in delight at the offer.

"And you aren't cooking this time. I'll take you somewhere nice. Deal?"

"I would really like that. But if you ditch me again, or don't show up, I'm keeping it!"

"Yeah, I'm ok with that. How's seven-thirty?"

"Deal." Josie winked.

"Deal!" Alex cheered with a miniature fist bump. "I'll see you then?"

"See you then Alex." One more wink and Josie was off with a delightful pep in her step and a wonderful reason to look forward to the coming evening.

Author's note: Wanna get updates on my stories early, hear what's going on and why my dumb ass is behind on updating or when updates might be coming/what stories might be coming next? Follow me on Tumblr: Hopedfulbadgerjunara

Huge thanks to BraveVesperia01! They have been so kind as to commission this fic. It means alot to me, writing is the thing I love most in the world and it is an amazing feeling to get to do it in a professional sense! The original character of Josie was created by them, and they gave me the idea for this story! So if you enjoyed, definitely thank them for reaching out to me on my tumbler and commissioning me to get this story made. Feel free to reach out to me on my Tumblr hopefulbadgerjunara if you have any interest in seeing more commissions like this, or if you are interested in getting one for yourself.

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Although the sun shone so much brighter just to match Josie's attitude all the way home, the anxiety-inducing bus rides felt somehow relaxing, and she'd be damned if the birds weren't singing too just to make the screen all the sweeter, That all seemed to rather suddenly crash down the moment she arrived home. Not that there was anything to be upset about. Nothing to cause the slightest hint of dismay nor a single fluffy omen in the sky. But it still crashed down around her just as suddenly. She had a DATE! That should have been cause for celebration. A date with the kind-hearted officer no less! It should call for a raucous indulgence on the delightful development! But then there was the fact that it had been a solid year since something so celebratory had graced her calendar. But this wouldn't even officially make it onto her calendar! She only had a matter of hours to prepare! The flush in her cheeks competed with the pale hints of fear creeping in at its edges. How was she to prepare! More over! What the hell to wear! Should she dress up? Dear lord, the previous attempt at a meal with Alex resulted in her wearing dolphin print pajamas! Terrified grimaces took over terrific grins as she nearly collapsed against the door in the anxiety that came with the need to make such decisions. It would be her first shot at a real first impression all over again. Sure Alex had seen her in three outfits now. Her waitress uniform, pajamas, and the drab outfit she had thrown on that morning when she was expecting to just drop off the jacket with a note at the station. God, this would be the first time she actually got to wear something that she liked. Not that she didn't love the pajamas, but that felt like a separate thing entirely.

She was still overjoyed, and beyond excited, but this was in no way going to be an easy feat. Heels? Flats? A dress? Or a blouse and skirt? Pants? Should she wear pants? Jeans or something less casual? No! Certainly nothing so casual! This was her chance to impress! To woo, to, oh god why did this have to be so hard?

Josie scrambled to her closet, picking out forerunners to try on and test as to see how it might look. She, thankfully was rather organized with her closet, but after ten minutes of scavenging through her clothes for what might match or work well with what, that organization seemed to slip right out the window, into a shredder, then a woodchipper, and land somewhere in a fire. A rigorously raging fire.

The lopsided pile of clothes on her bed made for little to no comfort as she thumbed through it and kept feeling like nothing would be just right. Scratching her head, hoping inspiration might strike, horror struck instead. Her hair! She had to do her hair! Oh god! A quick rush to the bathroom confirmed that her anxious search had done nothing to make her hair look any less like a mild case of bed head lingered past noon. "No! No! No!" She sighed, grabbing a brush and attempting to tame the mane. Still trying to straighten her hair, Josie stumbled her way back to the mess of clothes on her bed. The mountain seemed no less insurmountable, but at least she had time. Even if it was wearing thin at the prospect of all the things she felt she had to do before Alex arrived.

"So? It's been hours? You wanna tell me what happened while I was getting my coffee?" Adam fished after hours and hours of patience.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Alex still couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she turned the cruiser around. Paperwork was done, patrol completed, and she was more than ready to drop the cruiser back off at the station and head off for her hot date.

"Yes, yes, in fact, I would. I've been very patient and not pestered." Adam appealed.

"You also let me keep talking even after you saw her enter the station." Alex glared out the corner of her eye.

"Oh come on. Like you wouldn't do it to me?"

Alex inhaled wanting to argue, but a more honest huff and a grumble of admittance slipped out instead. "You got me there."

"So! Spill! What happened? I know it was good! You've been in a good mood all day." Adam nudged the driver's arm with his elbow.

"It was… awkward, and a lot of anxiety."

Adam hummed back waiting for the turn in her tune eagerly.

"But yes. Yes. it was rather good."

"So you tell her?"

"Yes." Alex admitted and averted anxious eyes.

"And she said?"

"She doesn't care. She… she was perfect about it. Ok?"

Adam enjoyed himself more than a little too much laughing and smiling wide. "Told yo-" Alex jabbed him with her sharper elbow. "Ouch! Damnit! Harsh!" He complained but he was still laughing.

"I know you told me so." Alex pouted.

"Aww. I'm sorry. But, I am glad it went well?"

"It went nothing short of perfect. Well, all except for me being a bit slow on the uptake with how understanding she was."

"See. That's good news! So? When are you seeing her again?" Adam did a small drumroll on the cruiser's dash.

"Tonight." Alex grunted.

"Ohh! Now I see you didn't pull that last girl over for missing that light? Someone's excited to get off for the night and pick their girl up?"

"She's not my girl. I! I don't think so? Not yet? But…" Alex lingered with a goofy grin at the thought.

"Aww, you like her." He teased.

"Shut up." Alex simply sped a little faster back towards the station.

"Well, I'm happy for you. Congratulations. And-"

"You told me so. I know." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Hell yes I did!" Adam cheered, settling in for the short ride back to the station.

Hours and hours! It had taken hours and hours, but somehow Josie had managed it. Hair was done, rather simple, just straightened and worn down at its natural shoulder length, but it managed to work well with the rest of everything else. Makeup had been managed. A nice red lipstick felt like the perfect pop of color against everything else to the outfit. Aside from that, there was nothing overly notable, just the classic 'you but better' idealism. The more understated look felt a tad more comfortable for her, even if it was intended to be for a fancy date? Did this count as fancy? Josie worried deeply that she might have overdressed! Maybe rushing was a bad idea? She had a whole twenty minutes left before Alex was scheduled to arrive. A full twenty minutes to just doubt all the wonderful choices she had made. Those that she had felt so proud of and beautiful in only minutes prior. "Oh! Come on Alex. Please get here soon." Josie anxiously tapped her heel on the wood flooring.

Aside from the hair and makeup, Josie had landed on the decision of a dress. A simple black affair. But lord did it work. Its flat color seemed to do much to hide all those parts of her she didn't love so much and highlight those that she found it within herself to have pride over. A somewhat conservative collar with a minor window under its neck to show off just a hint of her chest juxt opposed with a somewhat high cut at its lower hem. Not so much that Josie would be left feeling like she had to pull it back down all night, but enough that she felt she was certainly showing off her legs. The final touch of the dress, however, was her favorite. The sleeves. A beautiful flowery lace that slipped almost all the way down to her wrists. It left her feeling the perfect precarious combination of fancy, tasteful, and just a dash of showy. To bring the whole ensemble together, there were finally the heels. Simple, sexy black heels. Her favorite in fact. Her feet might not love her at the end of the night, but Alex would hopefully appreciate it! Hopefully? Josie worried once more. What if it was all too much. She had spent hours and hours getting all gussied up, and all for Alex who would almost assuredly just be getting off of work. Would the officer even want to go to a whole fancy dinner? Oh god! Josie was certain she should have asked more before just marching off and out of the station that morning without asking any real or substantive questions about what Alex had in mind for their evening together.

Just as the spiraling was beginning to get out of control, Josie could hear it. The buzz. Someone was ringing her apartment from downstairs. A quick check of her phone assured her that it probably wasn't Alex. She wasn't scheduled to arrive for another ten minutes at least! With a worried sigh, Josie checked out her window quickly to see no one outside and buzzing at the building's entrance. But that didn't say much. She could sometimes see the entrance well enough to spot a visitor from her apartment but not always. A sigh of disheartened worry that Alex might not actually show up and Josie moved to the apartment's intercom. "Yes?"

"Josie?" The officer's voice was easily identifiable even through the fuzzy cheap microphone the landlord had installed to up the rent an extra twenty bucks for each tenant.

"Alex!" Josie's voice let on to more excitement and joy than she had meant allow to show, but there was nothing to do about it but blush.

"Hey! I know I'm a little early, you can keep getting ready if you need and I am happy to wait."

"Oh! No! I'm ready!" Josie cheered. It was an immense relief to know that she wouldn't be left to worry over her outfit for another ten minutes waiting for the officer to arrive. Also, she was simply so overjoyed that the officer had in fact made good on her promise not to disappear on her this time. Josie was half way to closing and locking the door to her apartment after her when she realized she was about to forget something. Quickly Josie ran back in to grab the jacket and head down the stairs.

Alex danced anxiously on the balls of her feet at the entrance to the apartment. She was immensely relieved to be early, so at least that was one good thing. The officer had allocated an extra thirty minutes to ensure she could find her way back to Josie's apartment, but luckily it hadn't been so hard to find even if she had only ever been there in the dark before. But then there was the matter of dress. She was still in her police uniform. A quick glance down at herself at least ensured that nothing had gone out of place over the course of her short shift, but she still felt guilty for not dressing up at all or even changing out of her work clothes. Those worries only replicated an infinite fold as she spotted the breathtaking woman rounding the corner after making her way down the stairs. God. Alex's jaw just dropped. Josie was inarguably pretty. Gorgeous by all accounts in many ways as far as Alex had managed to spot so far. But the dress took the cake and the whole fucking bakery along with it. Alex gulped on air just to ensure she hadn't begun drooling at the world's eighth wonder. Oh fuck. The simple police woman's outfit suddenly felt like only a half step above a burlap sack. "Dear lord help me." Alex whispered under her breath, praying for the strength if only so her knees didn't give out.

Josie's face lit up in a beautiful wide smile and she waved excitedly. Alex's heart skipped it's third subsequent beat as she gripped to the apartment building's door half for support and half so she could open it for Josie when she unlocked it.

"Hey Alex!" Josie welcomed with a bright look and hopeful eyes to melt the remains of Alex's heat.

"H! Hey there! I! God you look…" Alex simply couldn't find the words.

"Oh! Really? Good! Thank you." Josie looked over the outfit. "Honestly I was beginning to second guess it."

"H! How?" The question just busted past Alex's lips.

Josie giggled, taking the abrupt question as praise. "I don't know. I wasn't sure where you were thinking of taking us and I wasn't sure if it would be best to dress up or go for something a little more casual."

"This is, this is perfect." Alex eagerly assured and offered out her hand.

Mistaking it as a request rather than the offer to hold hands it was, Josie pushed out the jacket, nearly dropping it into Alex's hand. "Oh! Yes! I did promise to return this to you." The moment she had passed it off, a corner of Josie regretted not grabbing a jacket of her own. But when she sat on the thought for more than half a moment, Josie figured being a little cold for the rest of the night would be a more than fair trade off in exchange for that look she had earned from Alex.

"I didn't just come for the jacket Josie." Alex offered it back up at the slightest sign of a shiver in Josie's shoulders.

"You sure?"

"If I wasn't that dress would have made me sure. But yes. I am sure. I was before you came downstairs." Alex opened the jacket up and held it out offering to slide it on to Josie. The dress was beautiful, but there wasn't much to it, next to no thermal protection.

"You are really sweet. A right gentlewoman." Josie felt the flush in her cheeks, the fluttering in her chest and the urge to lean into Alex, to walk with her head nestled into the officer's shoulder like they had the first night.

"Well, I do my best." Alex assisted as Josie allowed her to slip the jacket onto her.

"You do very well." Josie could still smell the perfume Alex wore on the jacket, the light floral scent assisting her to relax.

"That's not true, but I appreciate your kindness." Alex admitted to a baffled expression on Josie's face. "I disappeared on you." For some reason beyond her own reasoning Alex jogged Josie's memory.

"Oh. Well, yeah. You did. But… new start? Ok? Just, just don't do it again."

"Ohh, I don't plan to." Alex assured quickly.

"Good." Josie nodded happily, catching a good look at Alex's officer uniform. She never thought herself to be quite so weak to a woman in uniform but she was, oh lord, she certainly was. Or maybe she was just weak to Alex in her uniform? Either way, the sight was still a delight regardless of its reason. The uniform was either tailored or just some miracle of form-fitting. The sharp ironed creases, the way Alex's belt sat high on her waist. Damn. Josie had to fight to remember not to bite her lip or else she'd do a number on the lipstick she spent so long ensuring would be perfect. "By the way-" Josie fought against her rushing embarrassment to speak up. "You don't look half bad yourself. I, I really like the uniform. It, works really well for you." For just a moment Josie's mind slipped to the gutter. Just an instant, she couldn't help but allow the thought to wreck her. What would it feel like to have the officer atop her in that uniform?

"Wha-?" Alex's head snapped up from admiring the jacket and dress on Josie. "I! Oh! Wow. I! Thank you. I really appreciate it. Honestly, I was really worried about it. You got all dressed up. God, you look so beautiful. And I am still just wearing my work clothes. I- I had just been rushing to get her on time. And, well, I am really glad my outfit didn't let you down." Alex was just a little too caught up in herself and still feeling woefully underdressed by comparison to notice the blush showing through Josie's foundation and how the waitress fidgeted anxiously like she was trying to cover up her impure thoughts.

"It! It looks really good on you!" Josie yelped out, still trying to force the thoughts out of her mind. No matter how delicious they were, it wouldn't do well to have her panties ruined before the date had even officially started! Not to mention how dirty the idea made her feel. "So don't worry at all, I really like it."

"Thank you." Alex blushed, finally catching the faintest hint of aroused appreciation in Josie's voice. Not that she would be so bold as to assume that was what the tone was, but some corner of her had her suspicions.

"So…" Josie lingered. "I, I didn't dress up too much did I?" She looked over herself once more, appreciating the jacket and it's warmth when she was wearing so little for the evening chill.

"No. This is perfect. Hell, if it wasn't I would be changing my plans for something that would make it perfect just to keep you in that dress." Alex's eyes were still nearly bulging out of her head in awe of the waitress's beauty.

Josie's mind went there again. All on its own her thoughts slipped right into the gutter. "I thought the point of a date was to get me out of a dress like this." The quip was just a little too perfect and it was already past her lips before she realized how it could be interpreted.

Alex's jaw dropped once more. She hadn't intended for it to come off that way in the slightest, but now that the idea was out there… Alex couldn't help it. The thought of slowly undoing the zipper at the back of Josie's dress for her, slipping off whatever beautiful panties the waitress might be wearing and…"Oh god! I didn't mean it like that! I! Sorry!" She shook her head violently if only to distract from the stiffness and tightening in her panties threatening to become a problem at any moment.

"It's ok." Josie attempted to giggle off the awkwardness as Alex blushed worse and worse. "I didn't mean it that way either. But, I won't lie. I am flattered you like the thought."

Alex's mouth opened and closed in stuttering succession. "I! I! Oh! I! Yes! Yes! I like that thought! But, I don't want to push you or rush you at all."

"I know. Thank you." This time it was Josie who offered her hand out to the other woman.

Alex quickly took the hand and cooed in delight as Josie naturally found herself gravitating closer and closer to her. The waitress quickly found herself near hugging Alex's arm and beginning to rest her head on the officer's shoulder. "Comfy?" Alex teased in an overtly adoring tone and began to lead Josie off to her parked car.

"Very much so. Thank you." Josie nodded into Alex's shoulder with a relaxed hum.

"Good. I'm glad. But my car isn't too far off, you know?"

"I'm sure. But this is nice." Josie argued softly.

"That, that it most certainly is." Alex huffed with delight, pulling Josie in closer for just that tiny increment more contact.

"So?"

"So?" Alex perked and pointed to a small econo car, a Prius or something, Josie couldn't tell from just the moments glance.

"So, where is the kind officer taking me tonight?"

"Straight to jail?" Alex couldn't help but tease.

"Not funny." Josie picked her head up to pout at the officer.

"A little funny." Alex chuckled.

"Not funny." Josie settled once more.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry." Alex pulled away with more than a modicum of regret for doing so and moved to the passenger door. "Can I make it up to you by getting the car door for you?"

Josie warmed back up at the chivalrous gesture and nodded. "It's a start."

"Well then, I will just have to do my best to make it up to you through the rest of the night huh?"

"I don't know if you can." Josie's earnest eyes betrayed her lies.

"I'll do my best."

"That just might be enough." Josie pulled at the open jacket, covering herself up with it as she slipped into the car. As soon as she was settled, Alex closed it behind her. "Thank you." Her words were muffled from beyond the closed car door, but Alex knew what she was saying.

With a momentary jog, Alex rushed back around to the driver's side and hopped in as well. "All settled?"

"Yeah." Josie confirmed with the click of her seat belt.

"Good."

"So?" Josie tried again as Alex started the car and pulled out of the vehicle's precariously parallel parked placing.

"So?" Alex questioned back, just as confused the second time around as she had been the first.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Well, I know a nice place. Nothing too overly fancy, but I like it, it's nice. And if you wanted, I was thinking maybe a movie after? If you are up for it?" Alex answered with her less than cemented plans.

"That sounds kind of perfect."

"We can see anything you like. It isn't a weekend or anything, so I figured I didn't need to grab tickets in advance. Plus this way you can choose what we watch." Alex relaxed her right arm, leaving the left to handle the steering wheel. The relaxed arm rested on the center armrest, one intended for both the passenger and driver to share. The officer offered an open hand, fingers outstretched and spread apart, welcoming Josie's to interlock with hers.

"You are really sweet." Josie took Alex up on the silent offer, lacing her fingers between Alex's and holding the other woman's slightly rugged but still semi-soft hands. "But I shouldn't be the only one to decide what we watch!" She argued tender in tone.

"I'm taking you out. So you get to pick."

"No! Again, that is kind. But I want it to be something that we can both enjoy."

"I will enjoy."

"What you will just enjoy anything?"

"Yup." Alex settled smug. "Because I'll be watching it with you.

Damnit, why did she have to be like that! So smooth! It was infuriating! Or at least that was the lie Josie used to distract from the actual flushed feelings it left her with. "I- I see what you did there." She tried to play it off calmly but trepidation won out just a little, giving tell to the officer that she had cracked Josie just a tad.

"Really tho. I'll like anything."

"You have to have a preference?"

"Ok, fine. I like pretty much anything but cop flicks."

"Aren't there like four of those in theaters right now, aren't there?"

"Yes, and they all look dreadful." Alex made a mild look of disgust.

"Aww, I'm sorry. I will do my best to pick one without any cops in it, ok?" Josie offered.

"Honestly, that is much appreciated." Alex admitted.

"Course." Josie squeezed at Alex's hand gently and relaxed into her, excited for the date to come and all the surprises it may or may not entail for them both.

End of chapter 5

Author's note: Wanna get updates on my stories early, hear what's going on and why my dumb ass is behind on updating or when updates might be coming/what stories might be coming next? Follow me on Tumblr: Hopedfulbadgerjunara

Huge thanks to BraveVesperia01! They have been so kind as to commission this fic. It means alot to me, writing is the thing I love most in the world and it is an amazing feeling to get to do it in a professional sense! The original character of Josie was created by them, and they gave me the idea for this story! So if you enjoyed, definitely thank them for reaching out to me on my tumbler and commissioning me to get this story made. Feel free to reach out to me on my Tumblr hopefulbadgerjunara if you have any interest in seeing more commissions like this, or if you are interested in getting one for yourself.


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